Game



NOV 4, 1941- H. B. PETERsl-:N 2,261,448

GAME

Filed Nov. 22, 1959 IN V EN TOR. 737cm ATTORNEY.

Patented Nov. 4, 1941 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE GAME Hans B. Petersen, Berkeley, Calif.

Application November 22, 1939, Serial No. 305,621

4 Claims.

The present invention relates to games, and

particularly to an indoor game played on a game board made to represent a basketball court, and with a playing piece representing a basketball.

It is the object of the invention to provide an indoor or table game adapted to be played by two people or more, and, through al combination of chance and skill, presenting plays similar to those of a regulation game of basketball.

A further object is the provision of game apparatus representing a basketball court and embodying means for determining the one of two opposing teams having possession of the ball or playing piece and for determining the various plays involved in the game.

A still further object is the combination with a playing board representing a basketball court and a list of possible plays, of means for selecting from the list of possible plays the play to -be made on the board, partially by lchance and partially by the position of the ball on the court.

Fig. 3 is a central vertical section through the playing piece illustrated in Fig. 1; and

Fig. 4 is a perspective view of a piece to be held in the hand of the player for flipping or moving the playing piece shown in Fig. 3 from place to place on the board.

The playing board as illustrated in Fig. 1 has a rectangular playing surface Ill `marked and proportioned to represent a standard basketball court. The usual backboards are provided in miniature at II and support conventional baskets I2 vof proportionate size. The backboards I I are preferably supported by posts I3 which are detachably connected to the surface of the board as by means of right-angularly bent feet I4 insertable in small clips I5 fixed to the board so that when the game is not being used, the backboards may be removed and side panels, I6, which extend outwardly from opposite ends of the court, may be folded over the main portion of the board by means of hinged connections therewith, as shownat I1.

YA score board I8 may be provided at one end of the court, and preferably contains sets of rotatable numbered dials I9 for keeping the score of opposing teams, the names of which may be printed on the board, as indicated at 20; the score board I 8, like the backboards II,'may be removably attached to the surface of the board.

At opposite ends of the board, positioned beyond the portion that is laid out to represent a court, are a pair of dials 2l. Each dial is divided into radial sections numbered from 1 to 5, and has associated with it a centrally pivoted indicator 22 which may be caused to rotate or spin by a flip of the vfinger so that it will come to rest on one of these numbered sections with the number designated being entirely a matter of chance. Each of the side panels I6 is printed with rectangular spaces arranged in ve groups of ve columns each. Each group of ve columns of rectangular spaces is opposite one-fifth of the court, divided transversely, and, as will appear hereinafter, there are printed play instructions in the rectangles of Aeach group which relate to the playof the ball when it is disposed in the corresponding fifth of the court.

A play follower is provided for each of the panels I6 and comprises a rectangular mask 25 which has a, slot 26 permitting one column of printed plays to be viewed when the follower is placed with a downwardly projecting edge 21 in a guiding position against the outer edge of thek panel I6. To the left of the slot 26 are listed the names by which the five players on a basketball teamare designated, and a position is also indicated for a ball that is out of bounds, held, or being tipped olf, as at the beginningof a quarter. AAt the opposite side of the slot 26 an Yarrow 28 is slidably mounted in a guide or track`2llv so that it maybe moved to a position 'visibly indicating the position of the ball as determined by the listing to the left of the slot.

Each of the rectangular spaces on the panels I6 contains vprinted play instructions which will indicate the direction and distance in which the player, supposedly in possession of the ball, passes it and the player by whom it is received. For example, theV plays in the rst column on one of 'thepanels I6 may read:

Left forward passes 4 spaces acrossl court to right forward;

Righty forwards long pass to left forward gain 8 spacesj Center passes across court ,4 spaces to right forward;

Running guard passes 6 spaces down court to center;

vwhich the ball comes to rest.

Standing guard passes 4 spaces to left forward; Running guard passes 12 spaces in to center; Ball tipped three spaces to left forward.

The entire court is divided into squares which are alternately colored, as indicated, to present a pattern like that of a checkerboard, and the dials 2|, in addition to their five radial divisions, are provided with ten radial alternately colored sections so that, as the indicator 22 stops on any number, it will also stop on one or another of the colored sections. In playing the game, the colors on the board represent the two players or teams in whatever order they may be assigned.

The board is placed upon a table and the players should seat themselves on opposite sides of the table in a position convenient for the manipulation of the pointers over the dials 2|, and for the manipulation of the mask or play follower 25 along the panels I6. At the beginning of a game, the ball or playing piece 30, shown in Fig. 2, which is in the form of a disk of Celluloid or similar material, and is preferably slightly concave so that it may readily be snapped in the manner of a tiddly-wink by the playing member 1 the ball is in the possession of the team designated by similar colors on the board adjacent the dial 2|. Likewise, if the pointers stop on unlike colors, the ball goes to the team so designated. The player who gains possession of the ball places his play follower over the central group of plays on his panel I6 and slides the follower sidewise until the slot 26 registers with the number, 1, 2, 3, 4, or 5, at the top of the column of plays, which corresponds with the number upon which the indicator 22 came to rest. The arrow 28 should then be moved to the tipof position at the bottom of the column, where it will point to the printed play instruction indicating the direction and distance that the playing piece is to be moved. The play is then read and the ball is moved, accordingly, this time by hand, and not with the playing member 3|.

The next play takes place from the point at If, for example, the rst play read, Center tips ball four spaces to right forward, the ball would be moved four spaces along the colored squares from the jumping circle in the direction of the opponents basket. The right forward was last in control of the ball, so the arrow 28 should be moved up until it is opposite the right forward position on the play follower 25. The play follower must then be moved so as to be opposite the same division of the court as the ball. The player in possession of the ball then again spins the indicator 22 to determine the column of plays over which the play follower is to be placed and to complete the selection of the next play from the list of plays. This continues until' the selected playV indicates that the team has lost possession of the ball due to an opponent intercepting it, to its being passed out of bounds, or held.

As long as the ball is passed to a player on one team or the other, the play follower and indicator will be used by that team for determining the following plays.` If either team has possession of the ball when it passes the line shown at 33, which is 9 squares from its own basket, an attempt may be made to score a basket. Al basket may be tried for only at this time, or when the play calls for a foul throw from one or the other of the foul lines 34, or when the play directs the player to try for a basket from a point behind the line 33.

A basket is tried for by holding the playing member 3| in the hand and placing it on the edge of the ball 30, and then snapping it in the manner that tiddly-winks are moved to cause it to y through the air toward one of the baskets i2. If the ball fails to pass through the basket and falls back onto the court, its possession goes to the team who has the color of the square upon which it alights. The team thus gaining possession of the ball may indicate the player who is supposed to have recovered it and proceed with the play follower 25 and indicator 22 to resume the play of the ball in the manner described above.

If, in the process of the game, the play selected indicates that the ball has been intercepted or wrested from a player, the ball should be moved transversely to the next adjoining square of opposite color, and the play is resumed by the opposing team from that point. In the event the ball should go out of bounds when it rebounds from the backboard, or because so directed by the list of plays, the ball should be placed in the margin 36 of the court and in the possession of the team not responsible for its leaving the court. The indicator 22 and game follower are then used to select the next play with the arrow 28 being placed opposite the legend, Out of bounds. In case of a held ball, the ball is moved to a position midway between opponents squares, and its possession from that time on is determined by spinning both indicators 22 to obtain a reading of similar or unlike colors.

The game as described above may be played by two persons, one representing each team, or by any number of persons, and it is, of course, particularly adapted to being played by ten persons, one for each of the regular players on the opposing teams, and the player in whose possession 7 the ball resides will have the privilege of spinning the indicator 22 and using the play follower to select the next play.

While certain features of this invention have been described in detail for purposes of illustration, it is of course to be understood that various changes may be made in the apparatus as herein disclosed without departing from the spirit of the invention as it is dened in the appended claims.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. A game comprising in combination a game board representing a basketball court over which a playing piece may be moved to indicate plays, printed play instructions arranged in columns alongside said court, said columns being arranged in groups corresponding to transverse divisions of said court, a play follower consisting of a masklike member adapted to overlie'a group of said printed instructions selectively to expose a single column, and means on said play follower to indicate a selected play in said column.

2. A game comprising in combination a game board representing a basketball court over which a playing piece may be moved to indicate plays, said court being marked out in small sections to indicate playing positions, printed play instructions'arranged in columns alongside said court and in groups corresponding to transverse divisions of said court, a play follower consisting of a mask-like member adapted to overlie a group of said instructions selectively to expose a single column, and means on said play follower to indicate a selected play in said column.

3. A game comprising in combination a game board having a representation of a basketball court displayed thereon, printed play instructions arranged in columns alongside said court and in groups corresponding to transverse divisions of said court, a play follower for each side of the court comprising a mask-like member having means to guide it along the edge of the game board in a position to overlie said groups and having an opening selectively to expose a single column, and means on the play followers for indicating a play in the exposed column.

4. A game comprising a game board representin: a basketball court over which a playing piece may be moved to indicate plays, printed play instructions arranged in columns alongside said court, said columns being arranged in groups corresponding to transverse divisions of the court, a play follower consisting of a mask-like member adapted to overlie a group of said printed instructions selectively to expose a single column, means on said play follower to indicate a selected play in said column, hinges separating the representation of the basketball court from the portions upon which the play instructions are printed whereby said portions may be folded over the court, and backboards removably secured at opposite ends of the court to permit the game to be packaged in a substantially at position.

HANS B. PETERSEN. 

